


Hope for a Chance

by Surakian



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Best Friends, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 02:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1964736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Surakian/pseuds/Surakian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything was exactly the same as when he last collapsed on to the metal surface of the floor over ten years ago, from the massive supercomputer in front of him to all of the yellow piping and gray sheet metal paneling that comprised the room. It brought back memories, painful ones he wished he could forget. </p><p>The frightened look on his best friend’s face as a white robed man turned to him with his black keyblade, the searing pain before he faded, all of the clutching at his chest and at his face, a scream locked within his throat, and…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for KHInsider's Ultimate Summer Challenge; unbeta'd

The low humming of a computer was the first sound he heard as he came to, and it was the last thing he expected to hear…He hadn’t expected to ever hear anything again.

A small groan escaped his mouth as he tried opening his eyes, but the bright white and yellow lights above him were too much to handle. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he opened his eyes fully and took a quick look around the room.

Everything was exactly the same as when he last collapsed on to the metal surface of the floor over ten years ago, from the massive supercomputer in front of him to all of the yellow piping and gray sheet metal paneling that comprised the room. It brought back memories, painful ones he wished he could forget. 

The frightened look on his best friend’s face as a white robed man turned to him with his black keyblade, the searing pain before he faded, all of the clutching at his chest and at his face, a scream locked within his throat, and…

He took a deep breath as a foreign—no, as a familiar feeling tingled under his skin like an uncomfortable itch that couldn’t be scratched. Right now all he felt was relief. The tight, heavy feeling that had once been a constant within the very core of his being—that he didn't even realize was there until now—was gone. That small, tiny fragment of a heart that wasn’t his had been removed from his own heart.

_My heart._

It had always been there, growing within a chest he thought was hollow and tainted. On some level he knew it had always been there, but he chose to ignore it and blindly believed in the lies that had been told to him; willingly rejected what he had sought after all those years. He gave into the dark whims of a heart that wasn’t even his own, corrupting and manipulating him like a puppet and he never even realized it. He had given into it and the dull bitterness that he mistook for apathy, and willingly followed Xehanort despite all of his prior notions of getting his revenge for taking his and his friend’s hearts. 

Dread pooled in his stomach and his throat tightened uncomfortably. He didn't deserve to be alive again—to have a heart again and yet here he was, laying down on a cold metal floor pathetically, wave after wave of emotion crashing into him like the crags along a shore during a storm.

He slammed a fist against the ground as a near-uncontrollable anger began to rage within him. All of this was something he never imagined he’d experience again. His heart raced and he could barely breathe from how intense every feeling was. 

“But how–!?”

"You'll have to thank Sora for that," a voice said from a distance. Somehow he was still able to control his impulses despite the anxiousness flowing through him, not immediately looking up to where the voice came from. He was feeling too much all at once, and he wasn’t sure what would happen if he actually looked at his new guest—worried that the turbulence within him would only grow worse. “If he hadn’t did anything, you would have been gone for good.”

He stayed silent, pushing himself up into a sitting position to hopefully look less pathetic than he imagined he did. Flax-colored hair fell limp around his face rather than being in its usual slicked-back style, obscuring his vision slightly as he turned his head to finally glance at the other person in the room. Even through his messy hair, he could still easily recognize the lithe figure that was leaning against the wall along the entryway to the computer room. 

They were the first and last person he wanted to see right now. Fear and guilt flared up inside his heart and he almost recoiled at the sudden burst of emotions rushing though his veins. Anger was familiar to him. He could handle that but _these_ emotions were hitting a raw spot within him, making him feel vulnerable and ashamed. As a Nobody, all of his emotions were dull and barely noticeable in his state of denial, building up slowly over time and only ever found release when he went berserker, but now his emotions were unrestrained and free every single moment. He thought his chest might burst open and his heart would flee his body once again.

“...Lea." His voice shook as he said his old friend’s name, and then suddenly he wondered what he even was to Lea now. They had changed so much these past ten years; their friendship faded away with their lost hearts, and in place of all of the affection they shared was resentment and indifference. As he had said the redhead’s name, all he could think was how that hollowness hadn’t been what their friendship was meant to turn into. 

“Isa.” A small smile flitted across the fire wielder's face, though his bright green eyes seemed guarded and weary. Regret flared stronger. “Glad somebody remembered my name on the first try. You can’t imagine how many times I have to correct people.”

“It's impossible to forget you,”  _Axel was unforgiving and unattached; the perfect assassin to take down the Organization’s enemies. Lea has always been warm and friendly, never failing to try and make somebody smile even if it was at his own expense…even if he had nothing to offer anybody at all except a few minutes of his time. I could always tell the difference._   _I could never forget you._ “I've tried.”

A bark of laughter came from Lea, and through the sorrow bleeding out in Isa’s heart came some kind of nostalgic warmth as he eased into a routine he thought they would never follow again. “Trust you to be a jerk even with a heart. I came all this way to be here when you woke up despite my extremely busy schedule and that’s all you have to say?” 

“And leave it to you to be obnoxious.” Isa retorted, a part of him trying to soak up every single bit of fondness he could, hoping it could melt the icy dread and guilt away, hoping it could close the open wound that carried all of the bitterness he clung to for over ten years. All of the warmth and familiarity in the world could never fix this, though. This was something he could no longer hold back. “But I have to wonder, why have you come here at all when you may have better things to do like celebrating your victory with your… _friends_?”

The words came out harsh, venomous, carrying all of the resentment and jealousy he had harbored and let control his actions when he was still a Nobody. The smirk on Lea’s face fell and his brows furrowed, a serious look stealing away all of the humor from the moment. Isa knew he was hurting Lea—hurting himself—by saying what he had just said and a part of him that was still a teenage boy with only one friend wanted to take it back.

“Dammit, Isa! Just cut the defensive crap already. Isn't that what got us into that mess in the first place?” Lea ran a hand through his red spikes, frustration and exhaustion marring his face. He knew these looks well enough. These were the same emotions he belittled Axel over, thinking the man was foolish for even claiming that he might be feeling more than the same dull disenchantment he had felt. “I’m here because…” 

Isa watched Lea struggle to find the words he wanted to say, watched as a dozen different emotions swirled in those vibrant green eyes of his and played on his face. Determination burned the brightest in his eyes, fear lingered around the edges of his mouth, his cheeks were flushed in exasperation, and something shone out from Lea’s heart, something Isa couldn’t exactly see clearly or understand, but it resonated with Isa’s own heart and made it skip a beat. 

It felt like…hope.

Kneeling down, Lea placed a hand on Isa’s and gripped it tightly. Hope. “We all got a second chance at living. You deserve your chance, too, Isa.”

“But…”

“You aren’t Saïx anymore.” Standing suddenly, the hand that gripped Isa’s began to pull him upward with a great amount of vigor. Isa nearly pulled his hand back from the sudden movement, but Lea was unrelenting. “Everything you did before doesn’t matter. Don’t you get that? That heart inside you is proof enough, but if you don’t believe me,”

_That’s not the problem, idi—_

His reflection in the glass that separated the computer room from the offline Heartless Factory caught his eye. Isa’s hand slid out of Lea’s as he turned to stare at his messy visage. Pushing his hair out of his face, he finally saw what the fire wielder was talking about.

The X shaped scar that blemished his face and served as the physical reminder of the worst day of his life had changed. Isa brought a hand up to his face and traced it, marveling at how smooth and faded it had become. If not for the bright lights in the room, he wouldn’t even be able to see it. 

But what was the most surprising was the green eyes that looked back at him from his reflection. Isa expected them to look listless and  _gold_  like they had been for years, but these new—old eyes of his were just as bright as Lea’s, brimming with all of the emotions Isa had been feeling since he woke up. 

Turning around and facing Lea was a lot easier than it had been a few minutes ago. Watching the man’s lips turn upward in a genuine smile that was similar to the one he wore as a teen, but so much more grand wasn’t so hard anymore. 

The happiness radiating from his old friend’s smile, the energy vibrating through his own body, the gentle beating of his own heart in his chest, a laugh that refused to be held back, and…

A chance at living—at feeling. It was more than he ever expected to get, but here he was.

He’d give it a try.


	2. Ice Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bonus continuation; unbeta'd

Walking out of the castle and to the town had been a quiet affair…at least on Isa’s end. Lea, who seemed a bit too excited to have Isa back, wouldn’t stop talking about anything and everything he could think about bringing up. From keyblades to all of the worlds he had seen while on his adventure with Sora and his friends, it was all honestly grating at Isa’s nerves.

While genuinely pleased that his old friend was even talking to him at all, Isa still wasn’t exactly stable in the emotional department and all he wanted to do was sleep for a few hours and maybe get into some clothes that weren’t a black coat.

“Hey, you should come join the beach party we’ve having on Destiny Islands tomorrow to celebrate saving the universe!”

“No.” 

“Oh come on! Didn’t we just talk about this? This is your second chance! Live a little!” Lea slapped Isa’s back roughly, and it took everything in Isa to retrain himself from punching Lea in the face.

“If you haven’t forgotten, I actually did try to help bring the universe to ruin. Forgive me if I’m not in a rush to go party with a bunch of teenagers over saving it,” Isa crossed his arms, giving Lea a stern look that was not unlike the one he used to give Axel when he tried to give some lame excuse for not completing his missions on time. “And just because I was brought back by the Keyblade Brat and had a very short heart-to-heart with you does not mean I am suddenly on everybody’s invite list for tea parties and birthdays.” 

A bit of indignation, maybe a colorful retort back and a revoking of the invite Lea had extended. Isa expected something like that to happen, but as always Lea failed to comply with the expectations he set for him. 

Lea was in stitches, gripping his stomach tightly and wiping at a few tears that were coming to his eyes. It took a minute before the laughter subsided, but once it did a hand softly rested on Isa’s shoulder, squeezing slightly. “I know, but trust me. They would be absolutely fine with you being there. Ienzo and Aeleus will be there and they did some pretty terrible stuff to Riku, and I sort of aided in killing Ienzo and he doesn’t hold it against me.” 

Isa wasn’t swayed.

“There will be lots of ice cream.”

“As if that would change my mind. I can get ice cream anytime.”

“Free sea salt ice cream?” Lea looked sly, and Isa was starting to regret ever letting the redhead get close to him again. The man knew exactly how to coerce Isa into doing something, even if was the worst idea ever.

Isa hummed, side-glancing at Lea and trying to look at disinterested as possible. Of course he didn’t. His eyes couldn’t hide his interest.  _Damn haywire emotions._  “If you keep those runts of yours on a leash, and I might think about it.”

And that was how Isa ended up going to a beach party with a bunch of rowdy teens and just as rowdy adults eating copious amounts of sugar (except for Terra who still had an aversion to anything sweeter than a nutty tart) and playing a bunch of insane beach games that required more potions and cure spells than any of the teens had expected (thankfully Donald & Aqua were well-stocked and had the foresight to expect some kind of disasters that night.)

If he had made strides in his rocky relationship with Lea’s annoying runts by giving them his last two sea salt ice creams after they lost the rest of their share in a bet with Kairi in who could finish the obstacle course on the other side of the island (Kairi clearly won. She had more practice than Roxas or Xion even if they were once a part of Sora), he wouldn’t admit to it.

And if he had actually enjoyed himself that night under the stars, well…he’d own up to that.


End file.
